New answers tagged medieval
4
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
Prestige
There's two things I would like to take note of. The first is the absolute ingenious of humans, even very early in history. The second is the absolute folly if humans, creating huge projects ...
- 40.2k
3
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
The question doesn't specify the size of the city. But for centuries and millennia cities, whether tiny, medium, or large, have had irregular plans or else were designed to have various geometric ...
- 31k
4
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
Urban Planners.
Basically someone one day decided that he/she had the wealth and the perfect way to organise a city. That is with circles.
They started off small with some circular paths and buildings ...
- 5,166
19
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
Your Villain Was Not the First...
So it wasn't actually your villain who first decided that a city-sized magic circle would be an interesting thing to try. One of the early city fathers, a wealthy ...
- 11.9k
6
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
Super-Volcano Caldera with Island.
Now, an examples on Earth but a smaller version would be Crater Lake in Oregon, USA (after the eruption of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago):
Brinley Clark, EyeEm ...
- 27.4k
5
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
"Give Me Two Sticks and a Bit of String and I Shall Compass the World Around"
So said Polygynes of Pycleas. Literally, making a (reasonably) perfect circle is far easier than making even a (...
- 41.2k
12
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
The Richat Structure
Also known as the "Eye of Rah", the Richat Structure is a unique geological formation found in the Sahara Desert. It is a 40 km wide circular formation with concentric ...
- 105k
27
votes
How could a city build a circular canal?
One cool way
First start with a lake that was formed from an asteroid impact crater. Then, at the center of the lake, a volcanic island forms due to a consistent lava flow. Both of these forms will ...
- 15k
3
votes
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Cheesy is in the eye of the beholder
Imagine being in the early medieval period and writing a fantasy book. You'll include modern guns. Initially you'll feel they are cheesy. A single person could mow ...
- 40.2k
1
vote
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Very high concentration requirement
This answer is very opinion based, but if you want to limit the use of flight skills in battles, just make it difficult to use, e.g. define that the conjurer ...
- 51
1
vote
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Flying is Dangerous. Especially in combat situations.
Naval aviators (the pilots that land on aircraft carriers) have the highest mortality rates of all servicemen (including infantry). Your conjurers ...
- 1,258
0
votes
What circumstances would lead to griffins abandoning their mountainous habitats for castles?
Dwindling Resources
You could have the Mountains become less fruitful, perhaps their food source begins to wane or even migrate (if they eat animals). Depending on their level of sapience and ...
- 56
1
vote
What circumstances would lead to griffins abandoning their mountainous habitats for castles?
In a world with Griffins any sapient species would try to train/tame/domesticate just like we trained/tamed Wolves making them into Dogs or how we utilised Falcons etc for Hunting. The value of ...
3
votes
How to make traveling safe for women in a medieval low fantasy world?
[As a caveat, I think this question present several issues that need to be adressed, but this is answerable as it is, hence my attempt. If details/clarification contradicting what I say are added, I ...
- 4,864
1
vote
How to make traveling safe for women in a medieval low fantasy world?
Bodyguard Courier Services (Payment on delivery)
Since people are returning to repossess property, presumably, the value of that property has to be high enough to bother returning. So, the methodology ...
- 21.3k
1
vote
How to make traveling safe for women in a medieval low fantasy world?
Travel in groups
Pretty much the only answer. If you want a single woman to go off adventuring in a Middle Ages setting, by herself, You are going to need Mary Sue levels of Plot armour.
I mean, look ...
- 35k
1
vote
Disabling a cart while moving
The grappler is a very simple device which is used by the police to do just the same thing. Although the mechanism which controls it is now automated, the device itself is simple: A set of two arms ...
- 6,562
2
votes
Disabling a cart while moving
There's a staggering amount of cartoon/action-movie physics in the other answers, too much to fit in comments.
Embedding an axe in a moving wagon wheel is perhaps technically possible but terribly ...
- 943
1
vote
Disabling a cart while moving
I would recommend a mix between a Bola https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolas and a grappling hook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grappling_hook cat of nine tails.. The bola catches one of the spokes of ...
- 5,632
4
votes
Disabling a cart while moving
Carts VS Wagons
Since I answered this question, the OP has edited his question indicating that he probably means a wagon or carriage, not a cart. A cart is a 2 wheeled vehicle, typically drawn by 1 ...
- 105k
7
votes
Disabling a cart while moving
The weak points of any chariot/cart
The driver
The animals
The harnesses (binding the animals to the yoke)
The shaft
The wheels
Focus on the wheels
It's important to understand that you might need ...
- 132k
1
vote
What conditions could help the Roman Catholic Papacy revive Paganism successfully to reduce Protestantism?
No, the Reformation was a Political Revolt more than a Theological One
One detail that a lot of people get wrong about Martin Luther is that he NEVER wanted to revolt against the Church to begin with. ...
- 105k
0
votes
What conditions could help the Roman Catholic Papacy revive Paganism successfully to reduce Protestantism?
Major Changes to the Timeline are Required, but the Pagans are useful to the Catholic Church as part of a Counter-Reformation .
The Roman Catholic Church sees itself as the direct continuation of ...
- 597
0
votes
What conditions could help the Roman Catholic Papacy revive Paganism successfully to reduce Protestantism?
That would have been a plausible approach if paganism was an already powerful position. Then it could have been an alliance of convenience between two powerful forces, intended to crush the third (in ...
- 5,969
2
votes
How would this desert town dispose of waste?
Recycle what they can and bury the rest. Food waste becomes animal feed. Manure and urine can be used as fertilizer. Dried manure can be fuel for fires (there is little wood in a desert).
What cannot ...
- 2,819
Top 50 recent answers are included